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7/15/2021, Progressing Spirit: Rev. Gretta Vosper: When Religion Goes Rogue [Indigenous children/boarding schools/genocide]
by Ellie Stock 15 Jul '21

15 Jul '21

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Gretta Vosper July 15, 2021It was over two decades ago that I first heard of the stories told by Indigenous families in British Columbia that unmarked graves of children could be found at the sites of former government and church-run residential schools. At the time, the former United Church minister who had been trying to alert authorities, Kevin Annett, then in his early forties, had already been placed on the Discontinued Service List - stripped of his ordination through a disciplinary process used by The United Church of Canada when the behaviour of a clergy person comes into question. In 1996, Canada’s national news magazine, Macleans, told the story of Annett’s disciplinary process under the title “The United Church Confronts an Activist”[1]. Journalist Chris Wood depicted the proceedings as repeatedly “characterized by rancor and recrimination.” It was the first time in its history that the UCC had conducted such a disciplinary hearing in British Columbia. Annett, incensed by the imposition of the requirement that he undergo a psychiatric assessment as part of the disciplinary proceeding, refused to comply; in so doing, he sealed the action against him and his relationship with the United Church was officially ended. Annett was written off by many as not to be taken seriously. And while he continued to work with Indigenous communities to try to get their stories heard, we continued to not take him, or those stories, seriously. To our ultimate shame. Recent weeks have uncovered over 1300 graves at the sites of residential schools run by the Roman Catholic Church in Canada for Indigenous children. South of our border, Rep. Debra Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, has taken up the challenge of exploring the lands of former American residential schools – many of them also run by religious institutions – searching for the graves of children who may be buried there. It is likely that, by the time this article is published, the number of children buried in unmarked graves on either side of our international border, may have risen. In Canada, it wasn’t just the Roman Catholic Church involved. Both the United Church of Canada and the Anglican Church also participated in the residential schools program which, for decades, forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families for the purpose of educating them into the dominant white, Christian culture of the country. The tragic results of the program are evident across Canada where Indigenous families continue to experience the trauma of familial and generational disruption, the religiously and politically condoned erasure of traditional language and teachings, and the failure of government to address the resultant social and cultural inequities and injustices which persist to this day. A question of nomenclature It may not seem remarkable that Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church which ran the three schools at which, to date, unmarked graves have been found, has refused to apologize for the deaths or the appalling way in which graves were treated (markers at one site were bulldozed by a Catholic priest in the 1960s during a dispute with a local Indigenous Chief). Some argue that a pope’s apologies are only given in person and that Francis hasn’t yet had the opportunity. He has, however, been invited to Canada to do just that. To date, no appearances have been scheduled. The question, however, is what would he apologize for? Would it be for the unsupervised way in which certain schools dealt with the deaths of schoolchildren? Would it be for deciding that it was cheaper to bury children at the school than return their bodies to their families? Would it be for not keeping records that would make connecting the remains with bereaved families possible? Or would it be an acknowledgement of the Roman Catholic’s legacy of genocide? Would it be an apology for what we have all wanted to deny for so long? And would we then feel free to sweep our own apologies in alongside, a national avalanche of complicity? Genocide by any other name The word “genocide” gets a lot of hackles up. Coined in 1944 by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin, the term was the slamming together of the Latin suffix cide, meaning murder, with the Greek prefix genos, meaning tribe or race. Genocide came to mean the eradication of an entire people. Surely a thousand or so dead children can’t be argued to be the eradication of a whole race or even of a tribe when their families were left to live according to their practices as they saw fit. The term genocide seems so extreme, doesn’t it? Some scholars have argued that the appropriate label for the Canadian government’s intent to assimilate Indigenous peoples through the residential school program is cultural genocide. Others note, however, that the term “cultural genocide” doesn’t even exist in United Nations’ documents. At one time, the term was included in a draft of the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), but it was ultimately removed and the term “genocide” is used exclusively in the final document. Lemkin, however, the man who originally coined the term, seems to have written with the understanding that genocide meant far more than the eradication of a people by murder or killing. The destruction of culture fell squarely within the boundaries of genocide as he intended the word to be understood. The world represents only so much culture and intellectual vigor as are created by its component national groups. Essentially the idea of a nation signifies constructive cooperation and original contributions, based upon genuine traditions, genuine culture, and well-developed national psychology. The destruction of a nation, therefore, results in the loss of its future contribution to the world. . . . Among the basic features which have marked progress in civilization are the respect for and appreciation of the national characteristics and qualities contributed to world culture by different nations—characteristics and qualities which . . . are not to be measured in terms of national power or wealth. [2] (italics mine, gv) To intentionally silence whole groups of people, by whatever means, is an offence that Lemkin would have named genocide. The practice of removing children from their families, refusing them the right to use their own language thereby undermining, if not destroying, the capacity for intergenerational transmission of culture, naming their customs and spiritual practices evil or corrupt, and refusing them the most sacred of all cultural practices, their traditional burial rituals, is the ultimate depiction of genocide as Raphäel Lemkin originally defined it. White Christians, dominant in North America because of the diseases, weapons, and beliefs they brought to this land, intentionally undertook to destroy Indigenous culture. They undertook a systematic program to do so. No matter what they called the “program”, it was genocide. It is genocide for which the Pope, our governments, and perhaps all white Christians and their descendants, must account and apologize. Incalculable loss We are made rich by what we receive of the heritage of our elders, of nations, and races who have come before us. They people our imaginations, colour our ideas, inform our deepest and best thinking, challenge our rigidities. But they also scare us half to death, strain our understandings of who and what we are, and leave us far more than we might ever have chosen for ourselves: heart-breaking truths; egregious complicities; harrowing cultural roots; blood-soaked family trees; the legacies of cold, marble-carved hubris. The past planted seeds of tomorrows we couldn’t foresee, might never have allowed to grow had we seen them, but they mature, nonetheless. And we must reckon with them. Every today is built on the best and the worst of what has come before. Every tomorrow is fertilized by the courage or insecurities of the present. It is ours to choose those tomorrows, not only for ourselves, but for those who will come after us. Lemkin knew this. He knew that our beauty and strength were limited only by the breadth of the stories and the diversities of the people who contributed to them. One story offers this understanding; another illuminates it from an alternate perspective. Together, we grow and learn. Together, we are made whole by exercising and testing our relationships with one another. Together, our cultures, our traditions, our ideas are cured over time and we grow into and through them. Eliminate one or another story, and the whole is incomplete. Indeed, eliminate the entire narrative, and the whole that might have been will, simply, never be. It is that simple. Given the breadth of culture we have lost or destroyed over time, is it any wonder that humanity seems more lost than ever? Using Lemkin’s definition, can we deny that religion, perhaps even Christianity, has been the greatest proponent of genocide throughout human history? Using religious syncretism to override local traditions, Christianity superimposed its story onto festivals and rituals of older, localized belief systems, silencing stories once told by telling bigger, more exciting ones. Our tradition built upon the destruction of ancient libraries, silencing cultural and scientific truths handed down, perhaps, for centuries. Infidels were slaughtered, non-believers tortured, healers burned at the stake, those who refused to convert cursed and driven from their communities. Burning books. Banning words. Smashing obelisks. Destroying sacred sites. Shattering ideas. Genocide by any other name. Beyond genocide I cannot define the religious impulse. I cannot claim to understand the pull religion has on some or the equally strong repulsion it holds for others. I do not want to live outside religion’s deepest wonders. I do not want to live within its shameful truths. The arc of human wealth has followed the curve of religious domination as divine rights have been used to claim properties, people, and whole lands. The breadth of the religious quest has stretched the human heart to acts of compassion and sacrifice beyond comprehension. We are struck by limitless wonder. We are mired in devastating truth. Were I to follow Lemkin’s lead, working to draw us into relationship with one another through and between the world’s myriad religions and beliefs, I wonder if what we might seek together could be called an understanding of the heart, perhaps even in the sense of standing under the protection of another’s heart; trusting that they will protect our story and offering, in turn, a pledge to do the same. Lemkin knew that we must protect one another’s stories. To know one another’s stories intimately, to seek to understand another’s practices, traditions, tests, strengths, burdens, losses, and accumulations of those things held to be dear – this would challenge us to open our hearts beyond our own beliefs, beyond the protection of our own traditions. This is what Lemkin saw and what might be the hardest thing we fractious beings could ever undertake: the need to create space and permission to tell our stories deeply and fully enough that we can hear in each one what our own does not hold; to marvel at a tale told differently; to see in another’s footsteps, not just their journey of discovery but our own. This, Lemkin knew, would mean a world beyond hate. A world in which he would never have had the need to slam together a Latin suffix and a Greek prefix. A world in which the word genocide would never have been coined. ~ Rev. Gretta Vosper Read online here About the Author The Rev. Gretta Vosper is a United Church of Canada minister who is an atheist. Her best-selling books include With or Without God: Why The Way We Live is More Important Than What We Believe, and Amen: What Prayer Can Mean in a World Beyond Belief. She has also published three books of poetry and prayers. Visit her website here. [1] Chris Wood, “The United Church confronts an activist”, September 16, 1996, Macleans. https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1996/9/16/the-united-church-confronts-a… Raphäel Lemkin, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation - Analysis of Government - Proposals for Redress, 2nd ed. (Clark, NJ: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2005), 91. In Cultural Genocide: Facing History and Ourselves, https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-in…, accessed July 7, 2021. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Mel Why are there many books written that Progressive Christianity is a dangerous belief? I was checking Kindle books and I have come across that there are books written about the negative side of Progressive Christianity. I wonder why this is so? Everyone has their opinion and why would people who write these books be judgmental? A: By Rev. Lauren Van Ham Dear Mel,An orientation toward scarcity and separation has informed a lot of the decisions we make as a species. When we perceive there may not be enough of something, we scramble to be sure we will have what we need, and usually extra…just in case. This can feed a tendency in us to feel very threatened and concerned about how others are finding ways to be sure they will have enough. Is their way better than mine? Is their way posing a threat to my sense of safety or competency? Progressive Christianity “affirms that the teachings of Jesus provide but one of many ways to experience the Sacredness and Oneness of life.” For those who have been taught repeatedly that Jesus is the only way, such a statement is very disorienting. Progressive Christianity “seeks community that is inclusive of ALL people.” For those who have been encouraged to create community exclusively with people who look and sound like them, this statement invites variety that creates confusion and possible fear. Progressive Christianity “believes there is more value in questioning than in absolutes.” For those who have taken comfort in predictability and answers, this statement evokes anxiety and perceived chaos. So, Progressive Christianity opens the doors to disorientation, confusion and chaos? Well, yes! In some ways… And this feels very messy for the parts of us that really prefer comfort, ease, and order. Progressive Christianity recognizes that being human on this living planet means experiencing diversity, death, and fear while learning to find meaning, love and friendship amidst it all. Is Progressive Christianity dangerous? Most definitely if a Christian doesn’t want to recognize their participation in a system that has allowed certain humans to thrive at the expense of other humans and more-than-humans. The Rev Dr. Cornel West powerfully sums it up with these words, “To be a Christian is to live dangerously, honestly, freely - to step in the name of love as if you may land on nothing, yet to keep on stepping because the something that sustains you no empire can give you and no empire can take away.”~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Lauren Van Ham, MA was born and raised beneath the big sky of the Midwest, Lauren holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Naropa University and The Chaplaincy Institute. Following her ordination in 1999, Lauren served as an interfaith chaplain in both healthcare (adolescent psychiatry and palliative care), and corporate settings (organizational development and employee wellness). Lauren’s passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings have supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. Her essay, "Way of the Eco-Chaplain," appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women; and her work with Green Sangha is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of religious environmental activists from diverse faith traditions across America. Her ideas can be heard on Vennly, an app that shares perspectives from spiritual and community leaders across different backgrounds and traditions. Currently, Lauren tends her private spiritual direction and eco-chaplaincy consulting practice; and serves as Climate Action Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI), and as guest faculty for several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community - join us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Did you know that ProgressiveChristianity.org is the repository for all of Bishop John Shelby Spong’s newsletter articles, which he used as the basis for his books? Once he retired, he entrusted us with their care, as well as the continuation of his newsletter, which is now called Progressing Spirit. We need to upgrade our site to better maintain our digital records of this material. If Bishop Spong’s work has been meaningful to you, would you consider a donation to help make his ongoing legacy possible? We are a small non-profit and any gift that you are able to give has an enormous impact. Thank you for your commitment to Progressive Christianity! The Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines, Co-Executive Director ProgressiveChristianity.org/Progressing Spirit Help keep ProgressiveChristianity.org/Progressing Spirit online and going strong - click here to donate today! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited Joseph - An Essential Character in Matthew’s Vision of Jesus Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong January 5, 2011Christmas has faded from our memory. The trees are down, the tinsel and the chaos of the day have been cleared away. The crèche scenes have been stored in the basement or attic for another year. It is, therefore, a good time to focus on the least understood member of the Holy Family that dominated the Christmas images. We call him Joseph and he is the strong, silent one, who stands behind the manger in that patriarchal world as the symbol of order. Who was he? Was he a person of history or a symbol? While the Christmas story is still fresh in our minds, allow me to explore the figure of Joseph. Mythmakers and fantasizes have wrapped layers of legends around him. A Christmas song from the 14th century, called “The Cherry Tree Carol,” depicts Joseph and Mary on the way to Bethlehem when Mary was “great with child.” They pass an orchard filled with cherry trees ripe with fruit. Mary asks Joseph to gather her some cherries, reminding him that she needs assistance “for I am with child.” To that request Joseph responds in anger, “Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee.” The tension is relieved, however, when the baby Jesus from the womb of his mother orders the cherry trees to bow down so that Mary can pick the fruit herself and Joseph, seeing this miracle, repents of his doubts. The 20th century English poet, W. H. Auden, similarly, in his Christmas Oratorio, entitled “For the Time Being,” depicts the temptation of Joseph as an inner debate where he hears a voice say: “Joseph, have you heard what Mary said occurred? Yes, it may be so, but is it likely? No!” When we turn to the Bible itself to see what the New Testament says about Joseph, our first response is surprise when we discover how little there is, given the rich legendary tradition. Paul, the first author of any book that is included in the New Testament, writing in the years between 51 and 64, says absolutely nothing about either Joseph or Mary. He also seems to be totally unaware of any notion about a miraculous or virgin birth. All he says about Jesus’ origins is that he was like every other human being “born of a woman” and like every other Jew “born under the law.” (Gal. 4:4). When we come to Mark, the first gospel to be written (ca.70-72), once again we find no birth story and no mention of Joseph whatsoever. Mark does, however, seem to know that Jesus has four brothers and at least two sisters (see Mark chapters 3 and 6). They are, however, portrayed as not only negative to Jesus, but also as actually seeking “to seize him (Jesus) for, Mark tells us that people were saying, “he is beside himself,” that is, out of his rightful mind. Could Mark have avoided the story of a miraculous birth and Joseph’s role in that drama if he had known about it? I do not think so. When the virgin birth story entered the tradition in the 9th decade of the Common Era in the writing of Matthew, the second gospel, Joseph makes his first appearance of which we are aware in the Christian tradition. Please be aware that Matthew’s gospel was written 50-55 years after the crucifixion and thus some 80-85 years after the birth of Jesus. Joseph is not only introduced into the tradition for the first time by Matthew, but he is also the central figure in Matthew’s birth story. Here Joseph is portrayed as wrestling with whether or not he should send his wife back to her father’s home as “damaged” goods since she is pregnant before their marriage, but when he is assured of her faithfulness by God in a dream, he becomes the one who names this child, and thus the one who offers both protection and legitimacy to this child. When this birth narrative ends, however, Joseph disappears from Matthew’s story. Joseph appears in Luke’s birth story also, but in a much less central role than the one assigned to him by Matthew. When the two birth narratives end Joseph disappears from the entire gospel story. Joseph never appears in any biblical story about the adult life of Jesus anywhere in the New Testament. So the first biblical fact to be embraced is that in the New Testament Joseph is only a character in the birth narrative, he is not a presence in the adult life of Jesus. That is not true about Jesus’ mother, Mary, who is referred to in Mark only once by name, but is referred to as “the mother of Jesus” in a few other places in all of the other gospels. Even so, the fact remains that while Mary’s resume in the New Testament is quite thin, Joseph’s is almost non-existent. People have speculated that the absence of Joseph, whom tradition has suggested was an old man, is best explained by the possibility that he must have died while Jesus was very young. That is of course a possibility that must be considered, even though there is no data that gives us anything on which to base that speculative conclusion. I want, therefore, to propose another alternative for which I suggest there is some supportive data if one knows how to read the gospels properly, that is, not literally, but the way the original Jewish readers of the gospels would have read them. Perhaps Joseph was not a figure of history at all, but a literary creation originated in Matthew and designed to fill out his cast of characters when he created the first birth narrative. My reasons for suggesting this arise out of my study of Jewish history. Let me seek to build this case. It is a well known fact that there was a deep division in Jewish history between the tribe of Judah, which was also called the Southern Kingdom, and the Ten Tribes of Israel, which were called the Northern Kingdom. What is less well known is that this division was viewed by the Jews as a division between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph. The dominant tribes in the Northern Kingdom were Ephraim and Manasseh, both of whom were said to be the sons of Joseph. The Bible suggests that this division went all the way back to the patriarch Jacob, who had two wives. His first wife, Leah, was the mother of Judah and his second wife, Rachel, was the mother of Joseph. Enmity between these two half brothers appears in the Genesis account of their early life. Judah is portrayed as the brother who was willing to sell Joseph into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. The two Jewish states split permanently after the reign of Solomon in 920 BCE. The author of Matthew’s gospel wanted to portray Jesus as the messiah who came to bind up all of the divisions in the human family. This unity, for Matthew had to begin in healing the ancient division in the life of the chosen people. He opened his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus that traced his line through King David and the kings of the Southern Kingdom, so Jesus emerged out of the tribe of Judah. Now, by making Jesus’ earthly father be named Joseph and by assigning to Joseph the role of protector, he incorporated the Joseph tribes into his story. If this is accurate thus far, then we ask: Where did Matthew get the content that he has assigned to his character called Joseph? Everything biographical that Matthew relates about Joseph is found in the birth narratives, which constitute the first two chapters of his gospel. Here we learn three things about Joseph. First, he had a father named Jacob. Second, God speaks to him only through dreams. It was through a dream that he was told to take Mary as his wife. It was through directions received in dreams that Joseph moved regularly with Mary and the Christ Child until he finally settled his family in the village of Nazareth. Dreams were essential to Matthew’s portrait of Joseph’s life. Third, the role assigned to Joseph in Matthew’s narrative was to save the messiah, the child of promise, from death and he did this by fleeing to Egypt. That is the extent of the knowledge we have in the New Testament about Joseph. Now look back into the Hebrew Scriptures at the story of Joseph the patriarch, best known in our culture today as the Joseph of the “coat of many colors.” His dramatic story is found in Genesis 37-50. When we read that story carefully, we discover three things about this Joseph. First, he had a father named Jacob. Second, he was constantly identified with dreams, first as the interpreter of the dreams of the Pharaoh’s butler and baker and finally as the interpreter of the dreams of the Pharaoh himself. He was even called by his brothers, “the dreamer.” Third, in this narrative the role that the patriarch Joseph played in salvation history was to save the chosen people from death during a time of famine and the way he did it was to take them down to Egypt. I do not think these connections are coincidental. Matthew is going to tell the story of Jesus as the Messiah who came to bind up the human family. He first must heal the divisions in the chosen people. So he makes Jesus the heir of King David and thus a son of Judah and then he portrays him as being raised under the protection of an earthly father named Joseph. Messiah has made his people one so that they could make one the nations of the world. So the figure of Joseph looks like the literary creation of Matthew and becomes the first interpretative hint of his theme that Jesus came to bind up divisions and to make the human family one. Recall that Matthew ends his gospel by having the risen Christ give the Great Commission: “go into all the world” go to where people have been defined as different, unclean, uncircumcised, and tell them the message of Jesus, namely that God’s love is unbounded. Assure them that there is nothing anyone can be or do that will separate him or her from the love of God. Paul captured this same theme when he wrote in Galatians in 52 CE that in Christ, there is “neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, bond nor free,” but all are one. To that we add that in Christ there is neither white nor black, gay nor straight, Protestant nor Catholic, Jew nor Muslim, believer nor atheist, conservative nor liberal, but all share in a common humanity. That is the vision of Jesus that Matthew intends to paint in his gospel and Joseph is a crucial, introductory character, in whom Matthew’s theme is announced. Perhaps if we ever learned to read the scriptures correctly, escaping the mindset of literalism, we could once again hear the gospel and begin to assert the oneness of all people under the love of one God. That is the substance of the vision we Christians receive from Jesus.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Click here for more information/registration ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Copyright © 2021 ProgressiveChristianity.org, a 501(3)c. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 4810 Pt. 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7/08/2021, Rev. Lauren Van Ham: The Mother Religion; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 08 Jul '21

08 Jul '21

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screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv1208355276 #yiv1208355276templateBody .yiv1208355276mcnTextContent, #yiv1208355276 #yiv1208355276templateBody .yiv1208355276mcnTextContent p{font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv1208355276 #yiv1208355276templateFooter .yiv1208355276mcnTextContent, #yiv1208355276 #yiv1208355276templateFooter .yiv1208355276mcnTextContent p{font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;}} | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Mother Religion | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Lauren Van Ham MA July 8, 2021A month ago, my husband and I were in the car at 4:30 in the morning. We were returning to San Francisco from San Diego, and attempting to get ahead of the traffic that would be in L.A. I was driving. To my left was the Pacific Ocean spanning left-to-right; and shining from above? Luna! The full moon was reflecting a steady, kind glow saturating the water’s surface. I was without words and Valentino, in his half-asleep state said, “Isn’t it amazing how gentle Earth is with us? She’s so patient.” In Her 4.5 billion years of being a planet, Earth has known great drama illustrated in superfluous gestures of creativity and supreme acts of destruction. If we used only this as our backdrop for religion what would our religion consist of? Edgar Morin, a French philosopher and sociologist has thought a good deal about this and writes, “Such a religion would lack any providence, any shining hereafter, but would bind us together as fellows in the unknown adventures. Such a religion would not have promises but roots: roots in our cultures… in planetary and human history; roots in life and the stars that have forged the atoms of which we are made; roots in the cosmos where the particles were born and out of which our atoms were made…. Such a religion would involve a belief, like all religions but, unlike other religions that repress doubt through excessive zeal, it would make room for doubt within itself. It would look out onto the abyss.” Driving north that pre-dawn morning, Valentino and I were looking out onto the abyss. As abysses go, it was a friendly one. We were together and we were safe with no presenting threats. But to see the moon and ocean in their untamed vastness brought us instantly out of our separateness into intimacy with Mystery. We were sharing a moment in the unknown adventure that knows its roots, and makes room for doubt. For those few dazzling moments, we felt Earth’s fierce love and grounded equanimity. She was witnessing us and we were witnessing Her. Being seen in this way, feels to me like Psalm 139:15-16: “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.” In a previous Progressing Spirit article, I mentioned the work of religious scholars who have tried to better understand the earliest mentions of “Original Sin.” In their careful review of etymology and translation, original sin might best be described as a place inside every single one of us that aches for the cosmic unity we left when we fell from the stars and took form as an embryo. Our profound homesickness and efforts to restore the fragments (Tikkun Olam), define how we live, for better or for worse, consciously and unconsciously. This beautiful and insatiable heartache makes me want… my Mom. In 2016, research was shared reporting that dolphin mothers[i] sing to their infants while they are in the womb and for some time after so that the babies can learn their names. Apparently, the rest of the pod encourages this learning to happen by quieting their own usual sounds. Did your Mother sing you your name? The religion that Morin describes, suggests there are ways to feel our cosmic roots, or put differently: to tap the deeper knowing we carry about our Mother. Not only our biological Moms, our adopted Moms, or our symbolic Moms but our Great Mom, the one described in Genesis 3 as, “the mother of all living.” You know, the one, “who beheld our unformed substance even as we were woven in the depths of earth?” That one. Whether or not your biological mom sang your name to you in utero, the mother of all living did. And do you know what? She is singing to us still. She is singing our names and inviting us to be part of the living religion –- the Mother Religion -- that does not repress doubt with excessive zeal. Our Mother Religion is living, loving, generous, patient, interdependent, ebbing and flowing. And did I say patient? Doubt comes, doubt goes. It’s the repression that erodes us. It’s the oppression that drowns out the mother’s song. How do we hear the notes again? Honor your mother. It’s mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, but what does this instruction mean really? Well, we honor Her by buying organic and composting. We honor Her by dismantling systemic injustice. We honor Her by voting for climate emergency resolutions and attending shareholders’ meetings to demand equity for all people. We honor Her by repairing painful stories in our families as and where we can. We honor her by planting flowers for the pollinators, and harvesting rainwater and driving less. We honor Her by calling our Mothers and by listening to the next generation. We must do all of this -- and whatever else is within our capacity, too -- but “honor your mother” isn’t a list of activities or boxes to check; it’s a religion to practice. A talk to walk. I don’t know a whole lot about dolphins and the vigilance required to stay safe in the open seas. I know that they travel together and, now we know that the pods support the young ones in learning their names. Perhaps this is the most important thing – to travel and rest together, to play and eat and look out for each other, and if you become separated or danger befalls you, to know your name. To carry your mother’s song within you, so that – no matter what -- you are always at home. Maybe Jesus, walking in the sands of the Middle East, felt this marine mammal wisdom in his own DNA. Maybe Harriet Tubman, could hear the honking of geese, pointing her North on those moonless nights. Today, in their distracting and seductive way, modernity and progress have sometimes convinced us that we can avoid our fragile existence, or that technology can replace the song, improve the song. But our temporary lives and our deep longing is still there. What can we learn from our more-than-human relatives about vulnerability and death? Isn’t this the rub that all religion is trying to soften? Honoring our mother, is about understanding our essence as fleeting and eternal. We are held. We are named. It cannot be otherwise. Jesus, the Buddha, Lao Tzu and so many other wise teachers and mystics remind us to find our way home by seeing ourselves in all that is living, animate and inanimate. Messages of scarcity and superiority take us down paths of fear and separation. We can behave so badly, but that is not the song our Mother sings us. The words of Her song are medicine just like the lyrics in Ysaye Barnwell’s piece, Wanting Memories: I thought that you were gone but now I know you're with me. You are the voice that whispers all I need to hear. I know that I am you and you are me and we are one. I know that who I am is numbered in each grain of sand. I know that I've been blessed again and over again. We have so much to learn and evolutionarily speaking, we are barely in elementary school. Honor your Mother is about showing up for class with the willingness to be seen and taught by the ones who don’t look like us. When we listen, really listen, we honor our Mother because we hear all that lives. It is moving in Her, and you and I – we – belong, doubts and all. In our Mother, we are fearfully and wonderfully made and we cannot ever fall away from our eternal, cosmic home. ~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham MA Read online here. About the Author Rev. Lauren Van Ham, MA was born and raised beneath the big sky of the Midwest, Lauren holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Naropa University and The Chaplaincy Institute. Following her ordination in 1999, Lauren served as an interfaith chaplain in both healthcare (adolescent psychiatry and palliative care), and corporate settings (organizational development and employee wellness). Lauren’s passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings have supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. Her essay, "Way of the Eco-Chaplain," appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women; and her work with Green Sangha is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of religious environmental activists from diverse faith traditions across America. Her ideas can be heard on Vennly, an app that shares perspectives from spiritual and community leaders across different backgrounds and traditions. Currently, Lauren tends her private spiritual direction and eco-chaplaincy consulting practice; and serves as Climate Action Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI), and as guest faculty for several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.[i] I learned about this study reading a book I have loved and recommend: Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs (2020, AK Press) [ii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UJLJOaKW_0 | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Terry Is the Church ever going to address the antisemitism in our liturgy? The Jew hating is both blatant and subtle in the scriptures we read from Mark, Matthew, Luke, John and early Paul. You’d think 2,000 years of accusing the Jews of killing Jesus, being money grubbers, etc. was enough of this ugly stereotype. It is time the Church confronted its role in perpetuating all the antisemitism the first century Church created and the Church has perpetuated since. A: By Rev. Roger Wolsey Dear Terry,Thank you for your question. It is a deeply pastoral one coming from a true place of awareness and concern. Indeed, many of the liturgies utilized in the regular worship services in quite a few denominations contain language that’s offensive to our Jewish friends. This is particularly noticed in certain Calls to Worship; Words of Institution and the Great Thanksgiving that are part of the sacrament of Holy Communion; and especially evident in many of the readings shared as part of special services during Holy Week prior to Easter Sunday. Good Friday most notably. One piece of this is the readings from the Bible assigned on given days from the Lectionary. When the Gospel of John is featured, this is even more evident still. The way John puts it, Pontius Pilate and Rome didn't really want to kill Jesus, it was the Jews who wanted Jesus dead. As Dr. Elaine Pagels has indicated, as each of the Gospels were written chronologically they became increasingly more anti-Semitic in that they started shifting the blame away from Rome for the death of Jesus and onto the Jews. The Gospel of John is the zenith of this - with Pilate seemingly not really wanting to kill him – he’s portrayed as reluctantly allowing the execution due to the alleged pressure from “the Jews.” This is what led to Luther being so anti-Semitic. Which is in part what led Hitler to do what he did. This is demonstrated in several books and articles. For the record: Pontius Pilate was a ruthless killer and he wouldn't've bothered to meet in person with anyone slated to be executed, let alone be concerned about any public pressures or preferences. I know of quite a few progressive Christian congregations that are modifying the language used in liturgies – taking care to not blame “the Jews” for Jesus’ death. If they work with the texts from John for Good Friday, they’ll modify the wording to instead say “the public”, “the citizens”, “the mob”, “the masses”, etc. Some churches avoid using the texts from John re: Jesus death all together. In the same way that some churches modify the lyrics of old hymns to avoid condoning the penal substitutionary theory of the atonement, pastors and lay leaders should feel empowered to modify the texts for the Words of Institution and the Great Thanksgiving, as well as all denominational liturgies. Moreover, we’d do well to have a revision denominational liturgies all together, as well as calling for another revision of the Revised Common Lectionary. ~ Rev. Roger Wolsey Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Roger Wolsey is a United Methodist pastor who resides in Grand Junction, CO. Roger is author of Kissing Fish: Christianity for people who don’t like Christianity and blogs for Patheos as The Holy Kiss and serves on the Board of Directors of ProgressiveChristianity.Org. Roger became “a Christian on purpose” during his college years and he experienced a call to ordained ministry two years after college. He values the Wesleyan approach to the faith and, as a certified spiritual director, he seeks to help others grow and mature. Roger enjoys yoga; playing trumpet; motorcycling; and camping with his son. He served as the Director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at the University of Colorado in Boulder for 14 years, and has served as pastor of churches in Minnesota, Iowa, and currently serves as the pastor of Fruita UMC in Colorado, and also serves as the "CRM" (Congregational Resource Minister/Church Consultant) for the Utah/Western Colorado District of the Mountain Sky Conference. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community - join us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As a non-profit ProgressiveChristianity.org/Progressing Spirit rely heavily on the good will of our donors to help us continue to bring individuals and churches the messages of progressive Christians, Weekly Newsletters, along with the many other resources we provide. For years, the majority of our fundraising came at the end of the year. Looking at various ways to create a more reasonable amount of cash flow we decided rather than having a BIG ask at the end of each year, our more frequent asks give folks a chance to contribute when their funds are more flexible. We think that's a win for everyone. We also want to highlight the opportunity to become a sustaining supporter. If you are looking for the best way to help us continue to provide progressive Christian resources, become a sustaining supporter by choosing Recurring Donation. Help keep ProgressiveChristianity.org online and going strong - click here to donate today! * Another way to support us is to leave a bequest in your Will and/or Trust designating us a beneficiary. | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited A Letter From Bishop Spong Bishop John Shelby Spong July 8, 2021My Dear Friends, Please accept my sincere thanks for the cards and letters sent to me on the occasion of my 90th birthday. I experienced the joy of reliving moments of my life in reading them. They were more than 500 in number and came from every continent of this earth except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions! I read them with joy. I soon realized that I could never respond to them individually, so I hope you can accept this communication. Many of you asked for an update on my health. I had the stroke on September 12, 2016 in Marquette, Michigan, where I was lecturing. The right side of my body was paralyzed. I could not walk nor use my right arm or hand. Fortunately that did not last and by a host of physical therapies, I can today walk (with a cane) and I can use every part of my body save my right hand. It feels asleep all the time. I can not write in a legible fashion and cannot even sign a check. It is a stage of life that seemed strange at first -- not able to write even a letter, but I have accepted my limitation and I live in the love of my wife Christine and my daughters and grandchildren. A number of you inquired about my last book Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today. It was due at Harper/Collins on December 31, 2016. I had yet to do the task of writing the conclusion and doing the editorial work that separates the wheat from the chaff! Not being able to write legibly was a problem. I dictated the final chapters to my wife and she typed them and we edited it together. We got it in on the deadline and it was published in 2018! The downside came when I could not go on tour with the book. We had already stated that this was the final book of my career. I hope it was a fitting conclusion. It has had to grow by word of mouth, but that is not all bad. I am proud of it! I feel completed. Thanks for asking. Sincerely yours, John S. (Jack) Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Letting Go - 2021 Our consumer culture teaches that getting more stuff and holding on to it is the way to riches. Our ego-driven society encourages us to seek power and enjoy being the center of attention.But the spiritual life emphasizes other things. Online July 12, 2021 - August 1, 2021 Read on.... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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Global Buzz for July
by ICA International 07 Jul '21

07 Jul '21

Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.... And please click the link below for the latest issue of the Global Buzz Global Buzz Report: July 2021 or copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar http://globalbuzz.icai-archives.org/7dayreport-21/2021-07-01.php Read the latest ICAI Winds & Waves Magazine brought to you now on Medium.com See here: https://medium.com/winds-and-waves ICAI Communications

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Please join the "Critical Decade Dialogue" on 8 July, 7 pm CST
by Robertson Work 01 Jul '21

01 Jul '21

Dear colleague, Kay Nixon, Linda Hamilton, and I invite you to participate in a "Critical Decade Dialogue" on Zoom, on 8 July, at 7 pm CST. The event is on the ICA Global Research Center Calendar, and is sponsored by Room to Read. Here is the URL where you sign in next Thursday: Kay Nixon is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Chicago Chapter Author Event - Rob Work Time: Jul 8, 2021 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89858590512?pwd=eUtBYXJwNEE1M2pTNExySXl5dDZLQT09 Meeting ID: 898 5859 0512 Passcode: 064355 One tap mobile +13126266799,,89858590512#,,,,*064355# US (Chicago) +13017158592,,89858590512#,,,,*064355# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 898 5859 0512 Passcode: 064355 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbmvWtKjko Here is the announcement where you sign up so that the organizers - Room to Read - know who is participating: https://give.roomtoread.org/event/chicago-chapter-author-event-with-roberts…<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgive.roomt…> This event is a fundraiser for Room to Read's programs around the world, but you can also join the Zoom event for free. The event is listed on the ICA Social Research Center Global Calendar. Hope to see you next Thursday 8 July, 7 pm CST, Rob ............................................. Author page for my books: https://www.amazon.com/Robertson-Work/e/B075612GBF Blogsite: https://compassionatecivilization.blogspot.com/ Website: https://www.robertsonwork.com/

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Global Schedule
by Timothy Wegner 01 Jul '21

01 Jul '21

Alan Gammel asked me to post the following message. July is here with a choice of studies, conversations and training events. If you missed the inspiring “Miyawaki Approach to Reforestation” presentation hosted by Mary and Cyprian D’Souza, here is the link that will give you access to the recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yorr1nklVs-wac9ZRtS9gJnhnWvnzx3A/view?usp=… <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.goog…> . For JULY, click on this link: https://icaglobalarchives.org/social-research-center-events/. <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ficaglobala…>to see four types of events: studies, significant conversations, training and impactful global events. There are already nine events posted: two book studies are in progress; two trainings on personal skills development; a conversation on compassionate Leadership. Join Jim Troxel, Tim Karpoff , Rob Work, Sarah Patterson, Gene Marshall,Nancy Trask, John Burbidge, Sunny Walker and others in an impactful event in July! The plan is to send monthly reminders to check in and sign up for events that appeal to you. You may have noticed that the ICA USA Facebook page is beginning to announce events ten days before they occur. Please check the website for upcoming events and times during the month. Remember: YOU are invited to: 1. Offer a presentation you are interested in giving; 2. Recommend other people to present; 3. Participate in any of the events and encourage your friends to attend; and 4. Give feedback by emailing: icaglobalschedule(a)gmail.com. *The Behind the Scenes Team of the* *2021 ICA Global Schedule of Events* Alan Gammel ~ Virginia Kanyogonya ~ Karen Snyder ~ Sunny Walker

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7/01/2021, Progressing Spirit: Rev. Roger Wolsey: Paul: Friend or Foe?; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 01 Jul '21

01 Jul '21

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screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv1954457305 #yiv1954457305templateBody .yiv1954457305mcnTextContent, #yiv1954457305 #yiv1954457305templateBody .yiv1954457305mcnTextContent p{font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv1954457305 #yiv1954457305templateFooter .yiv1954457305mcnTextContent, #yiv1954457305 #yiv1954457305templateFooter .yiv1954457305mcnTextContent p{font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;}} | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Paul: Friend or Foe? | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Roger Wolsey July 1, 2021Sometimes we see posts on social media that begin with someone soliciting “Unpopular Views You Hold that Many Others Don’t” as conversation starters. People respond to such posts by saying things like: “I like light beer.” “I think curling is a proper Olympic sport.” “Young people who are graduating from high school would do well to consider not going to college and instead learn a trade to begin their careers.” “I’m a vegan chiropractor who recommends that people get the Covid-19 vaccine.” Or even, “I’m a Republican who embraces progressive Christianity.” I have a couple of apparently unpopular views. I think that constructing thorium and salt reactors as quickly as possible is needed in order to properly address human aggravated global warming. And, I think that that the apostle Paul has gotten an undeserved bum rap by many progressives and that it is good, right, and well for Christian pastors to preach from the letters of the apostle Paul. I will focus on the second of those two contentions in this essay. Zeitgeist – a German word that means “the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time” – or put more simply, “the spirit of the times.” I’ve been an active follower of the progressive Christian movement for many years. One thing I have noticed rather a lot along the way is a frequent disposition and bias against the apostle Paul. I’ve often seen it show up as a knee-jerk hostility – even as allergy and loathing. If one reads the comments posted on social media in progressive Christian circles it’s easy to recognize and confirm this. An anti-Paul attitude seems to be a zeitgeist. As a progressive Christian pastor who takes both the Bible, and academic scholarship seriously, it saddens me each time that I encounter this. The following is an example of such words written by someone in response to a post on a progressive Christian social media page: “..the ‘Paulistas’ as I call them, will scour the letters of Paul for anything which allows them to legalistically refute the actual example of Jesus….” Others have said things like, “those evangelicals are more into Paul than they are into Jesus,” “those fundies are into Paulianity not CHRISTianity,” etc. In my observation, there is often much overlap with the people who would reject the writings of Paul, with those who contend that Christians should “reject the Old Testament and only focus on the New Testament.” My response to people who would have us reject the Hebrew scriptures out of hand is to remind them that that is asking us to commit the heresy of Marcionism – the notion that “the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament; that “the earlier God was wrathful, mean, and cruel”, and the God of Jesus is warm and loving; and that Christians should reject the Hebrew Scriptures. I remind them that Jesus was informed and inspired by many of the Hebrew scriptures and we do well to be informed and inspired by them too (esp. the prophets and the Psalms). Moreover, one really can’t fully understand the content of the New Testament books and letters without being very familiar with the content of the Hebrew texts. Indeed, a high percentage of the words “in red ink” that are attributed to Jesus – are direct or partial quotes from the Hebrew texts, and/or Jesus riffing on verses within the Hebrew texts. I remind them that many of Paul’s letters were written prior to any of the Gospels - including before Mark, the earliest of the Gospels written. That means there is no such thing as a “Gospel-based Christianity” that existed prior to Paul. All early Christianity, including the Gospels, was formed in the context of Paul’s letters circulating. And, finally, I point out how such a view is not only an example of anti-intellectualism, it’s a form of antisemitism – rudely dismissing the religion of Judaism and the people who practice it. To be sure, the books within the Hebrew scriptures contain a great diversity of theologies some of them helpful and some rather toxic and dysfunctional (same with the New Testament). But to dismiss them all out of hand? - intellectual laziness and liberal dog-whistling that does more harm than good. What’s needed is a mature approach to the faith that follows Jesus’s example in prioritizing and affirming certain parts of the scriptures over others. Now to be fair, most all of the people who are critical of Paul tend to be people who care greatly about persons in our world who have been oppressed; i.e. women, LGBTQ+ persons, and people of color. It is of course good, right, and well, to care about such persons and to pro-actively seek to protect them. The problem is basically a matter of lack of education about the Bible. If people think that Paul wrote the so-called pastoral epistles – the skinny little letters in Bible that contain many of the most micro-managing, controlling, and misogynist verses, then it’d be understandable why many people reject Paul. Thing is, Paul didn’t write them – even though some of them are attributed to Paul. It’s long been the consensus of Biblical scholars that Paul was not the author of those letters. They conclude this because of the difference in language used, theology expressed, and references to certain contexts that suggest location in place and time. They also point out how common it was in that era for people to write pseudepigraphically - “in the name of others.” This information however is rarely passed along by the pastors in the conservative evangelicalism that has become mainstream Christianity. Moreover, unlike mainline Protestant pastors and Catholic priests, many of those evangelical pastors aren’t even required to attend seminary. Bottomline, they aren’t aware of this academic consensus. They don’t know what they don’t know. I suppose this is similar to how so many American Christians are unaware of the reality of human aggravated global warming, and thus, don’t consider stewardship of the earth and Creation care to be integral for people who call themselves Christians. However, some of those religious leaders are quite aware of this, but make a point to not share this information with the people in their pews – frequently with an agenda to “keep women in their place.” That said, there are certain verses within the pastoral epistles that are edifying and worthy of preaching upon in Christian worship; and likewise, there are a few verses within some of the letters that scholars have consensus that Paul did actually write, that are still problematic and worthy of critique. But, Romans 1 isn’t one of them. Some have mistakenly contended that this chapter condemns homosexuality. It doesn’t. See: “Why Romans doesn’t condemn homosexuality” and; “Romans 1 A Clobber Passage that Should Lose its Wallop.” Some progressive Christians claim that Paul was anti-women but they completely miss how Paul fully embraced the egalitarian inclusion of Jesus and that Paul celebrated numerous women who were leaders of the early Church, and that he even recognized one of them, Junia, as being a fellow apostle. Yes, it would have been helpful if Paul had overtly condemned slavery, but that is also true for Jesus as well. A logical implication of both Jesus’s and Paul’s teachings is that no Christian could possibly own a fellow human being if they are truly converted to the good news of the Gospel. Some of the most beloved, inspiring, and liberating verses in the Christian Bible are the words of Paul. Which of us would really want a Bible that didn’t include these passages?: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here! ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 …In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. ..What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~ Romans 8:22-39 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. ~ Galatians 3:26-29 (a passage massively helpful to the cause of women’s rights, and pro-LGBTQ advocacy – as being in Christ transcends all human constructs!) Sure, Paul might be viewed as a bit too arrogant – but in truth he was going out of his way to express a humble attitude. He wasn’t trying to be a “super Christian,” indeed, he strove to show that he wasn’t one of those sorts of people. Frankly, his trying “too hard” efforts remind me a bit of me – and this endears me to him. Speaking of zeitgeist, on June 3 of this year, Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz published an article on the ProgressiveChristianity.org website entitled “Did Paul Distort the Message of Jesus?“ His essay shares a similar concern about people dismissing Paul without giving him a fair shake. And consider also the following books which provide excellent insights about Paul and his letters from progressive Christian points of view: * Paul the Progressive?: The Compassionate Christians Guide to Reclaiming the Apostle as An Ally, Eric Smith. * The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary, Marcus Borg * Paul: A Biography, N.T. Wright Finally, most of the Christians reading this essay wouldn’t likely be Christians today if it weren’t for the apostle Paul. Prior to him, the following of Jesus was merely a sect within Judaism. Paul felt called by God to extend the good news of the Gospel to the gentiles – following the radically inclusive spirit and hospitality of Jesus in doing so. May this more generous understanding of Paul truly become the new zeitgeist spirit of our times; and may this view of the good apostle not be so unpopular with each passing day. In “the peace that surpasses all understanding,” (Philippians 4:6) ~ Rev. Roger Wolsey Read online here About the Author Rev. Roger Wolsey is a United Methodist pastor who resides in Grand Junction, CO. Roger is author of Kissing Fish: Christianity for people who don’t like Christianity and blogs for Patheos as The Holy Kiss and serves on the Board of Directors of ProgressiveChristianity.Org. Roger became “a Christian on purpose” during his college years and he experienced a call to ordained ministry two years after college. He values the Wesleyan approach to the faith and, as a certified spiritual director, he seeks to help others grow and mature. Roger enjoys yoga; playing trumpet; motorcycling; and camping with his son. He served as the Director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at the University of Colorado in Boulder for 14 years, and has served as pastor of churches in Minnesota, Iowa, and currently serves as the pastor of Fruita UMC in Colorado, and also serves as the "CRM" (Congregational Resource Minister/Church Consultant) for the Utah/Western Colorado District of the Mountain Sky Conference. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Karen My oldest child has recently come out as transgender. Not surprisingly, many Christian friends are now pointing to the bible saying that she is a sinner and that God 'condemns' her. Does the Bible and God really say that? A: By Rev. Mark Sandlin Dear Karen,No, the Bible nor God say that. The reality is that the Bible is largely uninterested in same-sex relationships and it completely silent on the question of transgender folks. If the people saying these things to you are sincere in their desire to be Christians, to follow the teachings of Jesus, I encourage them to think about some of the things Jesus most frequently talked about: loving your neighbor as yourself and standing with those who are marginalized as opposed to taking part in marginalizing them. As I say in one of my articles on the Bible and Homosexuality (Clobbering “Biblical” Gay Bashing), “Time and time again, Jesus made it clear that we should not put ourselves in the place of playing God and that, unlike far too many humans, God welcomes and loves us all equally. Period.” The way I see it, if you are being hateful towards a person, it is very clearly not of God. If anything, it's an attempt to pin hateful beliefs on God, to put words into God's mouth that run counter to what Jesus taught us about God. And, that? That's using God's name in vain. It's blasphemy. When religion isn't practiced with intelligence and compassion, it can easily be used as an authoritative confirmation of biases. Without critical thinking and the innate valuing of individuals, perverting religious outlooks to suit personal prejudices is far too easy. Your child is beautiful and loved in the eyes of God. Always has been always will be. And, yes, that's biblical. If others can't see that, they aren't seeing her from God's perspective. God is love. Condemning a person because of who they are does not come from a place of love, it is not from God. Give your child a giant hug, remind them of just how much you love them for being exactly who they are and tell them that is the way God sees them as well. ~ Rev. Mark Sandlin Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Mark Sandlin is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) from the South. He currently serves at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. Mark also serves as the President and Co-executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org. He is a co-founder of The Christian Left. His blog, has been named as one of the “Top Ten Christian Blogs.” Mark received The Associated Church Press’ Award of Excellence in 2012. Follow Mark on Facebook and Twitter @marksandlin. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community - join us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hi friends, First, I want to thank those who have contributed to ProgressiveChristianity.org for the role you play in keeping this unique source of progressive theology alive and well. We literally cannot do what we do without you. Also, a big “thank you” to our monthly donors. You are my heroes. Seriously. Knowing what outside support we can count on each month enables us to start casting a vision of what we can do in the future – including things like expanding our resources and getting those resources to even more spiritual seekers like you! Not a month goes by when I don't receive a note or message that reminds me just exactly how important is the work we do here at ProgressiveChristianity.org and each time I think of how grateful I am for those who help make it possible. ProgressiveChristianity.org is here for you and we thank everyone who has been here for us. If you are in a position to contribute, please consider doing so. If you can become a monthly donor - Recurring Donation - even better! Below is the link for donating. We appreciate anything you can do to be a part of our supporting family. PEACE! Rev. Mark Sandlin President and Co-Executive Director Help keep ProgressiveChristianity.org online and going strong - click here to donate today! * Another way to support us is to leave a bequest in your Will and/or Trust designating us a beneficiary. | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited Thoughts at the end of 2010 - Darkness Ahead Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong December 30, 2010Momentarily a new year will dawn. 2010 has been difficult economically for this nation and the world. Now is a traditional time both for looking backward and forward. When I watch our politicians discharge their duties at year’s end, I find myself despairing for two reasons. First, few people in public life seem eager to accept accountability and to recognize their role in creating the problems that this nation now faces. It is always someone else’s fault. Second, when one listens to the political rhetoric, it becomes apparent far too often that many of our lawmakers are either uninformed or dishonest. I cite these data that lead me to these depressing conclusions. Many political voices bemoan publicly the out-of-bounds growth in the national debt, but few of them are willing to take any concrete steps to address this issue. Clearly solving the fiscal crisis is not the path to political success. The fact is that this country has been living beyond its means for sometime now. There are three ways only to bring the nation’s finances under control. We can raise taxes, we can cut government spending or we can adopt a combination of both. While that is fairly obvious, the fact is that there is no political constituency developing around any aspect of this equation. How did the debt grow to such threatening proportions? There are four primary, easy to document causes. Two of them are our current wars, neither of which was provided for in the national budget. To finance these wars by calling for sacrifices on the part of our citizens was just too painful politically. No one on either side of the aisle was willing to raise taxes or to cut non-essential spending to spread the sacrifice. To do either ran the risk of eroding support for these wars and so a decision was made at the highest level that the only Americans who would have to sacrifice for these foreign policy initiatives would be the members of the armed services and their families, and sacrifice they did with their lives, their limbs and for many, we are now recognizing, their long- term mental health. No one else had either to pay a nickel or to see his or her life style inconvenienced. War also creates new sources of wealth. Certain businesses seize the war opportunity to make enormous profits. These businesses are primarily in security, construction and oil and each has powerful friends in high places. It is also the case, inappropriately enough, that many of these war profits made abroad find ways of escaping taxation at home. If a nation’s freedom or survival is at risk most would be willing to sacrifice the economy. Can anyone, however, honestly say that the wars in either Iraq or Afghanistan represented a response to either our freedom or our survival? One could argue, I believe, that invading Afghanistan was an act of self-defense, since the Taliban government of that country had sheltered Al Qaeda when they attacked the United States. The Iraq war, however, the far more expensive of the two, was begun on trumped-up charges about that country’s possession of weapons of mass destruction. Those charges turned out to be first blatantly false, second politically calculated lie and third covered up. It is also a fact that neither war has yet achieved popular support. When a nation or a government is not convinced of the rightness of its cause, its leaders always find ancillary excuses to justify their actions. The most popular of these in Afghanistan at least, was the Taliban’s treatment of its women under fundamentalist Muslim rule. We have all read stories of women being beaten and even executed for such crimes as having too much ankle visible in public, for being in the company of males other than their family and for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Girls were not allowed to go to school. Greg Mortenson’s popular book, Three Cups of Tea, related the attempts by an American to build schools for girls in Afghanistan and touched such a deep place in the American psyche that it remained at the top of American best selling book lists for years, making our citizens feel better about this troubling war. When President Obama supported a surge of troops in Afghanistan he effectively made that war his own. Neither President Bush nor Obama has yet gone to the Congress to secure budgetary support for either war, so their costs continue to feed the increasing deficit. The third cause of our gigantic current deficit was the second round of what were called “The Bush Tax Cuts.” The initial Bush tax cuts early in his first term were judged by most economists to be both reasonable and necessary. The government of the United States had begun to run a surplus in the 1990’s. What to do with this surplus had become a hotly debated political issue. One option was to use the surplus or some part of it to guarantee the solvency of Social Security. That course of action was defeated in favor of tax cuts alone. The second tax cut, however, had no such justification and even a conservative economist like Alan Greenspan called them “irresponsible.” No cuts in government spending were offered to minimize the inevitable addition to the national debt. There was sufficient opposition to these second tax cuts that the only way the Bush administration could get this proposal passed was to make them “temporary.” They were to expire on December 31, 2010. No one anticipated that when that date arrived this country would be in the deepest recession since the Great Depression. The fourth reason for the ever-widening deficit was that same recession. In the fall of 2008 reckless greed ultimately received its comeuppance. The “irrational exuberance” finally broke and began to spiral downward toward a world wide depression. Venerable businesses like Lehman Brothers, Merrill-Lynch, Bear Sterns and Wachovia Bank disappeared into either liquidation or fire sales. Giant banks like Citicorp, Bank of American, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley tottered on the brink of failure. The housing industry collapsed, having been financed by loans based on the premise of continuous inflation on housing prices. Washington Mutual and Countrywide Financial went into bankruptcy. AIG, the world’s biggest insurance company was in ruins. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government housing agencies, were no longer solvent. The American auto industry almost disappeared. Chrysler and General Motors received massive infusions of government money. Ultimately Chrysler went private and General Motors went into bankruptcy. Of course, with massive losses in the stock market, government revenues also tumbled, while government spending went on as if nothing had happened. Eventually, this nation itself flirted with bankruptcy. No president, with the possible exception of Franklin D. Roosevelt, ever took office in a more difficult time than Barack Obama. Recession, a tottering economy and two unfinished and unfinanced wars greeted him. It has not been an easy time for our nation or our people. Of course, if one believed the political rhetoric, no one was to blame for these disasters except one’s political enemies. It was obvious, according to Republican talking points, that the way to climb out of this downturn was to cut runaway social programs. Democratic talking points countered by suggesting that allowing the Bush tax cuts on the rich to expire was the clear pathway back to prosperity. As the showdown developed in the Senate the Republican minority clearly proved itself to be more politically adept than the Democratic majority. Taking a position of negativity on all issues, they fought the Democrats to a standstill. They exhausted the administration in the Health Care fight, while prohibiting the public option, which was the one thing in the original Obama health care proposal that had any possibility of lowering health care costs. Once that was defeated they began their attack on “the government’s takeover of health care.” It was strange logic and observers noted that the price of the stock in the private health care companies went up during and after the health care debate. Then using the recession as the reason for extending the soon to expire “Bush tax cuts” for all Americans including the top two percent of our wealthiest citizens, they added another huge hole to the national debt causing it to spin out of control for the foreseeable future. The Republican strategy is to build their future political victories by campaigning against the very deficit they helped to create. The Democrats, on the other hand, seemed to have been reduced to whimpering in the dark shadows of Washington about how heartless Republicans are. Yet they were unwilling to initiate any cuts in the national budget. In a similar manner no union seemed willing to face the fact that their companies can no longer compete against foreign businesses because of the cost of labor, making their only choice to be that that of bankruptcy or shifting jobs overseas. No teacher’s union wants to have any teachers judged by the standard of their students’ achievements despite the fact that the purpose of education is to educate. The fact is that this nation spends more money on education and achieves lower results than any developed nation in the world. So we enter 2011 facing difficult days ahead. The recession lingers; the unemployment rate remains just under 10%. Instead of working together to solve these critical issues, the primary agenda in Washington seems to be posturing for the next election. We are sowing the seeds of a disaster. It is not a time to be proud of our elected leaders, but this is there we are as we enter 2011.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements New Online Programs for those called by Earth and Spirit to Return to the Great Conversation We are excited to offer several new virtual and experiential Seminary of the Wild programs designed to support your journey of ecological awakening and a new kind of leadership. Re-member and reclaim the deep, sacramental rhythms of life - Online July 30th & 31st The deep imaginal realm is like treasure hidden in the field of your life, a key to the doorway of your destiny - August 14th, 20th and 27th. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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